Conventional hand-held paddles used, for example, in stand-up surfboarding and the like are more or less conventional double ended paddles having paddle blades connected together with an elongated handle. Consider, for example, a stand-up surfboard application. When the user paddles with such a paddle, the paddling motion generally involves a movement of the user's body from an upright position to some level of a bent over position as the paddle is alternately engaged into the water on the left and right of the user. This change from the upright position to the bent over position substantially alters the user's center of gravity from substantially vertically aligned from head between foot positions when upright, to a position substantially forward of that position when the user is in the bent over position.
Especially in the case of a beginner or student user, this movement translates to a shift in the balance point of the user on the surfboard tipping the surfboard from front to back. Additionally, as the user engages the paddle blades with the water alternately on the left and right, the alternating left and right motion creates a rocking motion alternating from the left to the right of the user's body that is translated to a rocking motion of the surfboard. As a result, a person attempting to learn to paddle a stand-up surfboard or the like is faced with the challenge of maintaining balance on the surfboard while shifting his or her balance to paddle. The paddling action is inherently disruptive of the balance of the user and can render learning to paddle a stand-up surfboard quite a challenge.